Pastor Huang Yizi, who was jailed for
his Christian faith, speaks to a loved
one while in prison.
(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Dali, Yunnan—May 19, 2017) The case of a Christian woman in China’s southwestern Yunnan province was returned to the public security bureau for further investigation for the second time on Tuesday.

After reviewing the case of Tu Yan, a Christian woman incarcerated on charges of participating in a cult, a local procuratorate decided to send the case back to the public security bureau for further investigation, ostensibly due to insufficient evidence. Tu’s lawyer, Ren Quanniu, however, alleges that the real reason the case was returned was because the court had not received an order from higher authorities on whether or not to prosecute. This is the second time the court has returned the case.

Taking advantage of this delay prosecution, Ren plans to plead for his client’s release on bail and visit her later this month, possibly taking her sister with him

On Oct. 23, 2016, officials took Tu into custody and accused her of participating in the Three Grades of Servants, a religious organization the Communist Party terms a cult. Both she and her family have steadily maintained that she is just an ordinary citizen and has no cult connections.

Another Christian woman named Su Min was taken with Tu, but there has been no news of her.

ChinaAid exposes abuses such as those suffered by Tu in order to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom, human rights, and rule of law.